Coupling device



p 1949. -v R. E. RUSKIN COUPLING DEVICEQ 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 8,- 1945 Robert E. Ruskln April 26, 1949. I R. E. RUSKlN I 7 2,468,114

COUPLING DEVICE Robert E; Ruskln Patented Apr. 2 6 1949 UNITED SlTA'FES PATENT (Granted under the act of March 3; 1883; as amended April 30, 1928; 3702 01 G. 757

This invention relates 1 to coupling devices, and more particularly to coupling-devicesfor seamless pipe ortubingz Whereseamlesspipepr'tubing is employed it may be desirable to provide some means whereby the pressure integrity of the pipemay'be tested without threading-theendof thepipe or otherwise deforming; the end 1 of the pipe to enable a highpressure-source to be coupled thereto or to permittempor-arysealingof an-end of the pipe.

' An object of thepresent invention ist'o-provide aneffective and efficient coupling device for seamless pipe or tubing;

In accordance with one embodiment of. this in vention'a coupling device may be-providedcomprising a shaft having a tapered sleeve slid-ably mounted thereon" and engageable with a; radially expandable-- sleeveto cause thesecond sleeveto spread and engage the innerwall of a pipe mounted on-said'shaft; A ringhaving a tapered, axially extending: aperture is concentrically. dise posed with respect to the shaft andengageable witl'iuaZ contractable sleeve to 1 cause the contravtableesleeve to engage the outer wall/of the/pipe; Means: are associated with the shaft to cause the taperedzmembers: to respectively. expand and contract; their. associated; sleeves, said means being reyersibleto free the pipe from.the=sleeves.and meansvare provided fonsealingthe coupling-device twthe;=. pine.

Qthenobjectsand advantages of the presentsimventinn will be apparentfrom theifollowingldee tailed;descrip.tion taken in conjunctiomwithlthe drawin s ,wherein Fig. L is a vertical; sectional view takenalong the line of E-ig. 2.;,and;

Fig, 2 is a sectional: view taken. substantially along she ling, 2--2-.of Fig. 1,.showing. a.pipe;in position tobe coupled.

Referring nowto :the; drawings, wherein. a pm:- ferredembodiment; of; this. invention is-illustrated; it..wil1.-be; seen that. an. elongated shaft 5@is;pr.o..- vided, which; WhereI the coupling device: is; to Y. be employed to connect the. pipe to; a pressmtesouroe may he hollow., as,-. shown, but. otherwise maycbe solid; and; as shown in Fig. 2, is externally threaded for. a short portion extending to the rlghhfrom. thet-leit-end of the. shaftand for; a very-much. longer. portion extending to the. left from the right end of the shaft 5., A collar 6-,;is. threadedito the left endof theshaft, as shown; in Fig. .2 to retain; on the..- shait a gasket or. packing. assembly-1,. which; may comprise; a plurality. of rings mailed; a relatively: soft and compressible material, such: asleathen sothat: they: may be compressed together and cause-d to expand: sum cientlyto engage the interior wall'of' a pipetobje coupled, which maybe located on the shaftf fi as indicated by the dotted lines 8, andthereby 'tb form'a seal. Imm'ediatelyadj'acent the. right side ofthe gasket assembly "is positioned'a,shouldered portion-ilpf a tapered fsleeve l0; whichis. mounted on" the" shaft 5 and slidable therealongtocause the left face-ofthe shoulder 9*tobeanagainstthe right side ofthe gasket assembly; the smallerpor tion of the tapered sleeve extending toward the right end of the shaft '5';

Wherranendpf apipe-or-tube" is positioned on thesh aft 5 and properly located to-be e'ngaged'by the-coupling device; the right end of the pipe bears; against the left" face of a large ring I2 which is mounted onthe shaft-5' substantially-in the-middle'thereof and is freely rotatablethereon: A; sleeve l 3; having anout'er diameter slightly less than the inner diameter of the pipe 8, rsin tegrally' formed with theleft facepf the ring4 2 and extends-tothe-1eftalong-the shaitE-as-uitablte distance-mo 1 receive the-right end-* of i the tapered sleeve I ll. The-sleeve l8 is-prov-ided with -a num ber ofi longitudinally' extending slots M fbr'med in 'its leit portion and; when the shaft 5* is moved to the right, causingthe-shouliier 9 to-bear-against the-gasket. assembly 1; the tapered portion o'f tiie sleeve Ill-.is caused. to enter-the sleeve l 3 and to spread the portions of the-sleeve I 3-=intermediate the aslots l 41 outward, that is, to 'eXpand the-sheve and cause it to. engage the right end portion of theiinner. walllofa pipe positioned on the-shaft as shown, thering l2cbeingprevented from niovring to the.right by=a plate lfilwhich is mounted oniandfixed towthe shaft: h adjacent the-right side oi-thesring; 12; In order tolcause theesleev-e ill to moveztoethe leftzout oi.- the1sleeve=135 when the shaft filismoved ito the left. to permitremovahof' a. pipefrom". the coupling. device,. a smalli ring: H is; mounted; onand. fixed tb=theishafth5i being slightly, spaced. from the; right. end of;- the sleeve 1,0 when: the; shoulder: 9: hears against: the right endio rthe gasket assembly; By spacing theiring I?! slightly. further: from: the. gasket I; thaw-the lengthoi; the. sleeve Ill; itcWi'llPbe apparent-that the sleeve I0 is permitted-ate. moveislightlyaaway. from ;.the: gasket: assembly; and;.thus: to @relieve the pressure thereonwhenthe. coupling is; to berriemoved ifromu thepipe;

The iouter Tightiend' portion: of the pipe or tube being:coupled-isengageable hywa sleeve 20'; which has; an internal: diameter slightly greater than the externaldiameter of the pipe to becoupled andis eoneentrically disposed with respect to a the sleeve l3. The sleeve 20 is carried by an integrally formed heavy flange 2i, which extends at right angles from the right end of the sleeve 20, and the (sleeve 28 is supported, as will be hereinafter described, so as to be longitudinally movable with respect to the shaft 5. The left outer portion of the sleeve 23 is provided with a taper of substantially the same degree as the taper formed along the interior of the sleeve l3 and the exterior of the sleeve l0, and a longitudinally extending slot 22 is formed in the left portion of the sleeve 20 so that the sleeve 20 may be compressed radially inwardly and caused to clamp flatly against the outer wall of the pipe being coupled.

In order to clamp the sleeve 20 against the pipe, the left end of the sleeve extends into a suitably tapered aperture 23 formed in a heavy ring 24, concentrically disposed with respect to the shaft and adjacent the left end thereof. The ring 24 is rigidly supported in spaced relation to the ring I2 by a pair of threaded shafts 25 which extends through apertures 26 formed in the periphery of the ring 12 and corresponding apertures 2'5 formed in the periphery of the ring 24. The shafts are rigidly fixed to the rings by associated nuts 28 which are positioned on either side of the rings, as illustrated in Figure 2.

In the operation of this coupling device, the sleeve 20 is caused to move to the left relatively to the shaft 5 at the same time as the sleeve it is moved to the right, thus applying clamping pressure substantially equally to the outer wall and to the inner wall of the pipe being coupled. In order to move the sleeves in this manner, a pair of shafts 39 are fixed to lugs 29 integrally formed on opposite sides of the flange 2|, as shown in Fig. 1 and the shafts extend to the right substantially parallel to the shaft 5 through apertures 3| and 32 formed in the outer portion of the heavy ring I2 and the outer end of the plate It respectively. The right ends of the shaft are axially apertured and internally threaded as shown to enable the shafts to be fixed to a heavy ring 33 by bolts 34 which extend through the outer portion of the ring 33 and engage the threaded ends of the shafts. The ring 33 is mounted about the periphery of a heavy, cylindrical block 35, which is axially apertured and internally threaded to engage the threaded right portion of the shaft 5, on which it is mounted, the block 35 being rotatable relatively to the ring 33 and the shaft 5. In order to retain the ring 33 on the block 35, the block 35 is provided at its right end with a shoulder 36, while its left end has a ring 37 mounted thereon and fixed thereto by a set screw 33. The spacing between the right face of the ring 3i and the left face of the shoulder 33 is made somewhat greater than the thickness of the ring 33 in order to permit the coupling device to be self tightening on the pipe 8, as will be hereinafter explained. Handles 40 are fixed to and extend from either side of the shoulder 36 to facilitate rotating the block 35 while a second set of handles M are fixed to 4 the outer ends of the plate I6 to facilitate handling the coupling device.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that by rotating the block 35 to cause it to move to the left from the starting position shown in Fig. 2, the ring 33 will be engaged by the left face of the shoulder 36 and caused to move to the left with the block 35, thus carrying the flange 2| and associated sleeve 23 to the left relatively to the shaft 5. As the sleeve 20 enters the tapered aperture formed in the ri 2% and the tapered portion of the sleeve is caused to contract and engage the other surface of the pipe 3, it will be apparent that the resistance to further movement will gradually increase. A point is reached at which it is easier for the shaft to move to the right relatively to the sleeve 23 than it is for the sleeve 2!) to move into the tapered aperture 23, thus causing the tapered sleeve if, to enter the sleeve l3 and spread it outwardly against the inner wall of the pipe being coupled. It will be understood, of course, that this sequence of operation is merely illustrative of one possibility, and that it is perfectly possible for the shaft 5 to initially carry the tapered sleeve it into the sleeve i3 prior to any relative movement occurring between the sleeve 2il and the ring 23. The important point is that by reason of the design of this apparatus, a balance is struck so that substantially equal clamping pressure is applied to both the outer wall and the inner wall of the pipe and that While it is possible for the clamping sleeves to move alternately, it is equally possible for the sleeves to move simultaneous- 1v.

The cylindrical block 35 is rotated and moved to the left relatively to the shaft 5 until the desired clamping pressure is obtained. After the pipe has been securely clamped by the coupling device, if connection is to be made to a pressure source, in which case the shaft 5 is made hollow, a pipe, not shown, having a suitably threaded end may be connected to the right end of the shaft which may be internally threaded, as

" shown, to receive and engage such a pipe and hydrostatic pressure applied therefrom through the coupling to the pipe to be tested. On the other the coupling device may be employed to seal the end of the pipe and the shaft 5 be made solid or if hollow, provided with a suitable plug, not shown. In practice it has been found that this coupling device will not fail at pressures greatly in excess of four thousand pounds per sq. inch, and that if, as the pressure is applied, the inner sleeve tends to slip, the slippage is transferred to the outer sleeve causing the outer sleeve to be contracted and thereby to increase the clamping pressure. The reason for this is clearly evident from an examination of Fig. 2. If the pipe 8 tends to move to the left relatively to the sleeve l3, after having been clamped in the coupling device, it will tend to cause the sleeve 23 to move further into the tapered recess 23 formed in the ring 2d, causing the sleeve 243 to be contracted and thereby to increase the clamping pressure applied by the sleeve. Since this correspondingly forces the pipe 8 inwardly, the effective clamping pressure applied by the inner sleeve i3 is increased and thus any tendency of the pipe 3 to move to the left relatively to the sleeve l3 tends to cause both the clamping sleeves l3 and 2% to increase their clamping force and to cooperatively prevent any such slippage. On the other hand, if the pipe tends to slip relatively to the sleeve 20, it will cause the sleeve It to move to the left relatively to the tapered sleeve It, thus expanding the sleeve i3 and increasing its clamping pressure against the inner wall of the pipe and at the same time causing the outer sleeve 23 to be more closely engaged by the outer wall of the pipe 8. It will be understood that the pipe 8 will normally not slip with respect to both the inner and outer sleeves simultaneously if sufficient pressure is initially applied. Consequently, the resulttis'a self -tightening coupling. It will be understood that sufiicient space must be allowed between the shoulder 36-andthe ring 38 to permitisufilcientfreedom of movement of the ring 3-3 and-associated parts in order to obtain this self-tightening feature.

When it is desiredto remove the couplin devicefrom the end ofthe pipe, it is merely necessary to reverse the direction of rotation of the cylindrical block 35i This causes the ring 38 mounted" thereon to engage the left face of the ring 33 and to move the associated connecting shafts 3-0 to the right relatively to the shaft 5. This in turnmovesthe sleeve Ell to the right out of 'theaperture' Ziand-causes the flange 2! assooiated 'with the sleeve 2c to engage the left face of the ring l2 and to move the sleeve it to the right relatively to the shaft 5, causing the inner clamping sleeve I 3 to move away from the tapered sleeve It)"; At first, the sleeve ill will tend to follow the sleeve i3, but after a slight movement, sufficient to relieve the pressure on the gasket assembly- 1, the sleeve I is prevented from moving further to the right relatively to shaft 5 by the-ring ll. Continued rotation of the block 35 thencompletely frees the pipe 8 from the coupling device.

Where herein the various parts of the inventionhave been referred to as being located in a right. or left position, it will be understood that thisuis done solely for the purpose of facilitating description and the references relate only to the relative'positions of the parts as shown in the accompanying drawings.

While but one embodiment of this invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that manychanges and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit or the scope of the present invention, which is limited only by the appended claims.

The invention shown and described herein may be manufactured or used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

What is claimed is:

1. A coupling device comprising a shaft, a first tapered sleeve carried by said shaft, a second tapered sleeve carried by said shaft and longitudinally movable therealong, said first sleeve being receivable in said second sleeve to cause said second sleeve to be expanded outwardly, a third sleeve concentrically disposed with respect to said first and second sleeves, means reducing the diameter of said third sleeve, and means moving said first sleeve into said second sleeve.

2. In a coupling device a shaft, a tapered member mounted on said shaft, an expansible member disposed about said shaft and expansible by said tapered member, means for causin said tapered member to expand said expansible member, a contractable member concentrically disposed with respect to said shaft, and means for contracting said contract-able member.

3. In a coupling device, a threaded shaft, a collar threaded on one end of said shaft, a gasket assembly positioned adjacent said collar, a first sleeve having an external longitudinally extending taper, said first sleeve disposed about said shaft with the larger end thereof engageable with one side of said asket assembly, a second sleeve disposed about said shaft and having an internal longitudinally extending taper, said first sleeve being receivable in said second sleeve to expand said second sleeve outwardly, a ring disposed about said shaft for: supporting said" sec 0nd sleeve, a third-sleevehaving an' external-taper concentrically disposedwith respect to"- said second sleeve, a second ring disposed about saidshaft and maintained in fixed spaced relation to said first ring, said second rin having an aperture of suitable dimension to receive the" smaller portionof' said'third sleeve and'to cause said third sleeve to be contracted upon movinginto said aperture, andmeans for forcing saidthird sleeve to enter said aperture toeontract said third sleeve and for moving said first sleeve into said second sleeve.

4. In a devicefor engaging in clamping relation both the inner and outer. walls of an-end of a tubular member, a shaft receivable in an end of said member, a-tapered sleeve mounted on said shaft, an expandable sleeve mounted on said shaft adjacent said tapered sleeve, said tapered sleeve bein movable into said expandable sleeve to cause it to expand radially and engage the inner wall of saidtubular member, an outer tapered sleeve concentrically disposed about said expandable member and contractable to engagepandable sleeve, said shaft and-said sleeves being receivable in-an end ofsaidtubularmember an' outer contractable sleeve disposed about said shaft to engage the outer wall of the tubular member, means contracting said outer sleeve, and means moving said tapered sleeve into said expandable sleeve.

6. In a device for engaging in clamping relation both the inner andouter walls of an end 'of" a tubular member, an externally threaded shaft, packing means mounted about an end of said shaft, means for retaining said packing means on A said shaft, a tapered sleeve mounted on said shaft and movable thereon to engage and compress said packing means, an expandable sleeve disposed about said shaft, said tapered sleeve being receivable in said expandable sleeve to radially expand said expandable sleeve, an outer contractable tapered sleeve concentrically disposed with respect to said expandable sleeve, means engaging the periphery of said outer sleeve to contract said outer sleeve and means moving said tapered sleeve to expand said expandable sleeve.

'7. In a device for engaging in clamping relation the inner and outer walls of a tubular member, a first sleeve disposed within said member, a second sleeve disposed outside said member, means increasing the external diameter of said first sleeve and means reducing the internal diameter of said second sleeve.

8. A coupling device comprising a first sleeve having a normally constant external diameter and a gradually varying internal diameter, a second sleeve having a normally constant internal diameter and a gradually varying external diameter, means concentrically positioning said second sleeve about said first sleeve, and means co operating with said varying diameters to respectively increase and decrease said normally constant external and internal diameters.

9. A coupling device comprising a shaft, a first tapered sleeve carried by said shaft, a second tapered sleeve carried by said shaft, said first sleeve being receivable in said second sleeve to expand said second sleeve outwardly, a third tapered sleeve concentrically disposed with respect to said first and said second sleeve, means reducing th diameter of said third sleeve and means moving said first sleeve into said second sleeve.

10. In a device for engaging in clamping relation the inner and outer walls of a tubular member, means engaging the outer wall of said member in clamping relation, means engaging the inner wall of said member in clamping relation, means responsive to relative movement between said outer wall and said outer wall engaging means for increasing the clamping pressure between said inner wall engaging means and said inner wall and means responsive to relative movement between said inner wall engaging means and said inner wall to increase the clamping pressure between said outer wall engaging means and said outer wall.

11. In a device for engaging in clamping relation the opposite surfaces of a member to be clamped, means engaging one surface of said member in clamping relation, means engaging the other surface of said member in clamping relation, means responsive to relative movement between said one surface engaging means and said one surface to increase the clamping pressure between said other surface engaging means and said other surface and means responsive to relative movement between said other surface engaging means and said other surface to increase the clamping pressure between said one surface engaging means and said one surface.

12. In a device for engaging in clamping relation the opposite surfaces of a member to be clamped, a first clamping member including a face parallel to one surface of said member and a face inclined in one direction to said one's'ur' face, a second clamping member including a face parallel to the other surface of said member and a face inclined to said other surface in a direction opposite said one direction and means cooperating with said inclined faces and responsive to movement of said first and said second clamping means to clamp said member between said parallel faces 13. In a device for engaging in clamping relation opposite surfaces of a member to be clamped, a first clamping member including a face parallel to and engaging one surface of said member in clamping relation and a face inclined in one direction to said one surface, a second clamping member including a face parallel to and engaging the other surface of said member in clamping relation and a face inclined to said other surface in a direction opposite said one direction, and means responsive to relative movement between said surfaces and cooperating parallel faces to increase the clampin pressure between the other surface and cooperating parallel face.

14. A device for engaging in clamping relation the inner and outer walls of a tubular member comprising a first sleeve disposed within said member, a second sleeve disposed outside said member, means increasing the external diameter of said first sleeve and reducing the internal diameter of said second sleeve and means operating the last-named means for movin said sleeves into contact with said walls under substantially equal pressures.

ROBERT E. RUSKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 24,179 McLeod May 24, 1859 1,646,660 Prince Oct. 25, 1927 

